BLUE FUEL IS THE FUTURE
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Special DME section of the journal Fuel Processing Technology
Dr. Andre Boehman, Professor of Fuel Science and Materials Science and Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, University Park Pennsylvania, also serves as Editor of Fuel Processing Technology. In this role he created a special DME section of the December 2008 edition of the journal.
This section contains seven research reports on DME received by the journal in 2008. Of the seven reports, three are from the US, and one each is from Iran, China, Italy, and Korea. Click here to view the Table of Contents of the DME section of the journal. Reports can be purchased online.
Heading Five
This section contains seven research reports on DME received by the journal in 2008. Of the seven reports, three are from the US, and one each is from Iran, China, Italy, and Korea. Click here to view the Table of Contents of the DME section of the journal. Reports can be purchased online.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Why blue is green
Let us count the ways . . .
1. Produced with renewable energy—wind, hydro, biomass, geothermal, solar, and ocean—as well as with water and waste carbon dioxide, Blue Fuel can be carbon dioxide-neutral. In other words the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere during combustion is equal to that captured from the industrial plant flue gases to produce it. This mitigates global warming, the ultimate in green! What’s more, when combusted at a facility such as a gas-fired power generation plant where the carbon dioxide can be captured and reused to produce more Blue Fuel, it can be carbon dioxide-negative. Closing the carbon loop results in Blue Fuel that’s . . . greener than green!
2. Even when produced with fossil fuels, such as natural gas and coal, the net amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere during combustion can still be lower than diesel—if green production processes are adopted. These processes include the use of renewable energy and gasification.
3. Blue Fuel burns ultra-clean because it is a simple, hydrogen-rich, oxygenated fuel with a short carbon chain and no direct carbon-to-carbon bonds (CH3–O–CH3). The carbon molecules in Blue Fuel attach to the oxygen, which makes the carbon burn more completely and cleanly. Blue Fuel produces virtually no particulate matter and no visible smoke. It also produces 90% less NOx (nitrogen oxides) than conventional diesel and no SOx (sulfur oxides). This translates into clean air and clear skies—and healthier, longer lives.
4. Blue Fuel burns more efficiently than diesel, which means better fuel consumption and thus lower emissions, including those of carbon dioxide.
5. Compression-ignition engines (diesels) running on Blue Fuel run significantly quieter than on diesel. Reports place it at under 80 decibels, the level of spark-ignition engines (gasoline).
6. Blue Fuel released into the atmosphere has a half-life of hours in the troposphere and days in the upper troposphere before decomposing into carbon dioxide and water. It thus never accumulates in concentrations that cause it to trap solar radiation. In other words, Blue Fuel is a non-greenhouse gas.
7. Blue Fuel is ozone-friendly.
8. Blue Fuel is non-toxic, non-carcinogenic and non-teratagenic (does not interfere with normal embryonic development).
9. Since Blue Fuel is a pressurized fuel stored in closed systems, it is difficult to spill. Further, because it is a vapor at temperatures above -25ºC, at atmospheric temperature it vaporizes and thus does not contaminate the soil.
10. Although Blue Fuel is soluble in water, the likelihood of a spill into water is low because the fuel is stored in a closed system. Regardless, it evaporates over a period of hours.
1. Produced with renewable energy—wind, hydro, biomass, geothermal, solar, and ocean—as well as with water and waste carbon dioxide, Blue Fuel can be carbon dioxide-neutral. In other words the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere during combustion is equal to that captured from the industrial plant flue gases to produce it. This mitigates global warming, the ultimate in green! What’s more, when combusted at a facility such as a gas-fired power generation plant where the carbon dioxide can be captured and reused to produce more Blue Fuel, it can be carbon dioxide-negative. Closing the carbon loop results in Blue Fuel that’s . . . greener than green!
2. Even when produced with fossil fuels, such as natural gas and coal, the net amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere during combustion can still be lower than diesel—if green production processes are adopted. These processes include the use of renewable energy and gasification.
3. Blue Fuel burns ultra-clean because it is a simple, hydrogen-rich, oxygenated fuel with a short carbon chain and no direct carbon-to-carbon bonds (CH3–O–CH3). The carbon molecules in Blue Fuel attach to the oxygen, which makes the carbon burn more completely and cleanly. Blue Fuel produces virtually no particulate matter and no visible smoke. It also produces 90% less NOx (nitrogen oxides) than conventional diesel and no SOx (sulfur oxides). This translates into clean air and clear skies—and healthier, longer lives.
4. Blue Fuel burns more efficiently than diesel, which means better fuel consumption and thus lower emissions, including those of carbon dioxide.
5. Compression-ignition engines (diesels) running on Blue Fuel run significantly quieter than on diesel. Reports place it at under 80 decibels, the level of spark-ignition engines (gasoline).
6. Blue Fuel released into the atmosphere has a half-life of hours in the troposphere and days in the upper troposphere before decomposing into carbon dioxide and water. It thus never accumulates in concentrations that cause it to trap solar radiation. In other words, Blue Fuel is a non-greenhouse gas.
7. Blue Fuel is ozone-friendly.
8. Blue Fuel is non-toxic, non-carcinogenic and non-teratagenic (does not interfere with normal embryonic development).
9. Since Blue Fuel is a pressurized fuel stored in closed systems, it is difficult to spill. Further, because it is a vapor at temperatures above -25ºC, at atmospheric temperature it vaporizes and thus does not contaminate the soil.
10. Although Blue Fuel is soluble in water, the likelihood of a spill into water is low because the fuel is stored in a closed system. Regardless, it evaporates over a period of hours.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Blue Fuel for cleaner air and healthier, longer lives
Almost all of us want to live healthier, longer lives. But as a recent Los Angeles Times article indicates, by breathing in air with excessive concentrations of particulate matter, which billions of us do every day, we are not realizing our potential to do so. This is both tragic and costly, especially given that Blue Fuel is a solution to this problem—a solution waiting to be tapped. And the most obvious and immediate way that Blue Fuel can be used to significantly improve air quality is as replacement for natural gas for power generation because it can be used without the need to modify turbines or combustors and manufacturers such as Mitsubishi, Hitachi, and General Electric have all approved it for their gas turbines.
Here in British Columbia our crown-owned utility, BC Hydro, operates three natural gas-fired power plants. The largest of these, Burrard Thermal Power Station, is a 950 MW plant that provides back-up for the hydroelectric system during low-water years, and supplementary power at peak demand periods and during interruptions in the grid. It could also be run steadily during periods when natural gas prices are relatively low, as they presently are, but this would cause a huge increase in GHG emissions and other types of health- and life-threatening pollution. As Dr. David Suzuki of the Suzuki Foundation notes:
“The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 77 percent of particulates from natural gas plants are dangerously small. These fine particulates have the greatest impact on human health because they bypass our bodies’ natural respiratory filters and end up deep in the lungs. In fact, many studies have found no safe limit for exposure to the substances.”
Despite this, there are initiatives to restore Burrard Thermal to full capacity, which according to BC Citizens for Green Energy, would be an environmental obscenity both because of the GHG and fine particulate emissions. The message that Blue Fuel can improve health and save lives—and save society countless millions of dollars by enhancing productivity and minimizing medical costs—needs to be vigorously promoted to utilities and government and non-government organizations charged with the task of improving air quality. Switching from natural gas to Blue Fuel is the low-hanging fruit for proponents of Blue Fuel—and we all know the health benefits of eating fruit.
Here in British Columbia our crown-owned utility, BC Hydro, operates three natural gas-fired power plants. The largest of these, Burrard Thermal Power Station, is a 950 MW plant that provides back-up for the hydroelectric system during low-water years, and supplementary power at peak demand periods and during interruptions in the grid. It could also be run steadily during periods when natural gas prices are relatively low, as they presently are, but this would cause a huge increase in GHG emissions and other types of health- and life-threatening pollution. As Dr. David Suzuki of the Suzuki Foundation notes:
“The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 77 percent of particulates from natural gas plants are dangerously small. These fine particulates have the greatest impact on human health because they bypass our bodies’ natural respiratory filters and end up deep in the lungs. In fact, many studies have found no safe limit for exposure to the substances.”
Despite this, there are initiatives to restore Burrard Thermal to full capacity, which according to BC Citizens for Green Energy, would be an environmental obscenity both because of the GHG and fine particulate emissions. The message that Blue Fuel can improve health and save lives—and save society countless millions of dollars by enhancing productivity and minimizing medical costs—needs to be vigorously promoted to utilities and government and non-government organizations charged with the task of improving air quality. Switching from natural gas to Blue Fuel is the low-hanging fruit for proponents of Blue Fuel—and we all know the health benefits of eating fruit.
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